


Hold Me (Just for Tonight)

by findmethestars (Atunenamedclara)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Love, Sad, Spoilers, unconfirmed swanqueen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atunenamedclara/pseuds/findmethestars
Summary: Words flitted across her tongue, each seeming more inadequate than the next, none of them even beginning to cover the years of history between the two women. Nothing sounded right, nothing sounded powerful enough to sum up what Emma felt. It was so much more than friendship, so much more than shared love for a child or family or even romantic love. It was years of fighting and pain transformed into friendship. It was shared loss and shared love, struggles and triumphs, sacrifice and honesty.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Set straight after 6X02. Hook is mentioned but only in passing. Emma (almost?) confesses her feelings for Regina. Regina is a supportive girlfriend.   
> I was in an angsty mood and for that I don't apologise.  
> Enjoy xx

Emma couldn't sleep. Her mind refused to stop spinning for even five minutes, and a headache pounded at the edge of her vision. The moon was bright in a clear sky and the night air was cold and crisp around her. She sat on the grass at the front of her house, the damp seeping into her thin cotton shorts, causing her to inadvertently shiver. Whilst she wanted nothing more than someone to talk to her to take her mind off the last few days from hell, Henry was at Snow and Charming to keep him safe from the Evil Queen, and Hook simply hadn't bothered to return from the Jolly Roger hours before.  
With nobody to talk to, Emma simply sat, staring up at the stars, wondering how her life had escalated so drastically to lead up to this point.

  
She laughed grimly as she recalled the way she wished upon a star on her 28th birthday, hoping for something to change, wishing desperately for a family to call her own. And now here she was four years later, surrounded by family and friends whom she loved and who loved her in return, but time was slipping through her fingers faster than she could even begin to think about it.  
Who knew how long she had left. A month? Two? A year? A week? Her head pounded even harder and wrapped her arms around herself, holding back tears as she struggled for breath.  
The loneliness she felt was tangible, it suffocated her at every breath and blinded her to any possibility of an escape route.

  
She sat there, unmoving for hours, until suddenly a warm hand grasped her shoulder and a rustling in the grass indicated someone was sitting next to her.   
"I do hope you keep your yard clean Emma, this is a new pantsuit" Regina sat primly, as if she wasn't quite sure Emma wouldn't lash out at her.  
Emma shrugged and choked out a strangled laugh.  
"It's a patch of grass Regina, I think it's self cleaning."  
"Hm" Regina shrugged, letting Emma deflect for the moment.  
They sat side by side in silence, Emma contemplating what was to come, Regina mulling over memories of days long gone.  
How had they gotten to this point, the saviour and the evil queen, side by side, awaiting death from an enemy far closer to them than they would ever care to admit. The queen had destroyed so much, ruined so many endings and so many chances for happiness, and now she was to do it one more time, to the women she had hurt the most, the one who created her and the one who brought her down.

  
At some point in the night, when the sky was at its darkest, Emma had shifted, seeking warmth from the woman next to her. Regina had opened her arms wordlessly, letting Emma curl into her, allowing her to place her head on Regina's lap, her long blonde hair brushing the woman's legs. In return Regina held her, giving Emma the warmth she so desperately needed.  
The night dragged on, the hours blending together seamlessly, time moving forward faster than either woman wanted it to. When the night ended and the light came, both would stand up and go about their day, the demons in the back of their minds pushed away to focus on the wellbeing of others. Emma would once more be the saviour, intent on bringing back all the happy endings, whilst at the same time sacrificing her own. And Regina would return to the mayors office, filling out housing accommodations and tax forms for the new citizens, giving shelter to the ones brought to her by her darker half in an attempt to destroy everything she had ever loved.

  
"Regina?" Emma spoke, sometime between the darkest hour and dawn.  
"Emma?"  
"If you...if you had one day left, one day to spend with the people you loved...what would you do with it?"  
"Emma? Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Regina looked at the blonde, concern etched into every line on her tightly drawn face.  
"Answer the question Regina" Emma was tired. So tired.   
"I think...I would tell them how I felt. I would tell them the truth about everything, everything which I hid from them out of fear, out of cowardice, all the things I wish I could say but save for another day...I would say all of it."  
Emma nodded, curling herself closer into the brunette. She didn't speak again after that.

"Emma?" Regina whispered, just as dawn broke at the edge of the horizon.   
"Mmm?" She had fallen asleep as orange crept into the sky, tossing restlessly on the hard ground. Regina's jacket was draped around her, and her arms were cocooned around her, making Emma feel more safe than she had in months. Maybe even years.  
"Is there something you want to tell me Emma?"  
Regina's eyes were wide, fear and vulnerability open and obvious in them.   
"Yes I..." Emma started and then stopped. Words flitted across her tongue, each seeming more inadequate than the next, none of them even beginning to cover the years of history between the two women. Nothing sounded right, nothing sounded powerful enough to sum up what Emma felt. It was so much more than friendship, so much more than shared love for a child or family or even romantic love. It was years of fighting and pain transformed into friendship. It was shared loss and shared love, struggles and triumphs, sacrifice and honesty.

  
Emma struggled for several minutes, trying to find a way to describe what Regina so desperately wanted to hear.  
"I.." she started again.   
She paused.  
"Just hold me Regina. Hold me. Just for tonight. Forget the world, forget everything. Just hold me."  
And Regina did.


End file.
